Sarah tells of her joy after she survives pioneering operation to remove tumour the size of an orange from her heart

Best friends: Sarah said her dog Lily had helped her back on her feet.

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When Sarah Crawford hugged her mum and dad before her open heart surgery last year, she didn’t know if she would ever see them again.

The solicitor was about to undergo an extremely risky operation, never before attempted in Scotland.

Her dad, Rudy, knew the risks too as he is one of Scotland’s top A&E consultants.

With her will made and her goodbyes said, Sarah, then 29, had surgery to remove a tumour the size of an orange from the wall of her heart.

But thanks to surgeon Kenneth MacArthur and his team at the Golden Jubilee Hospital in Clydebank, Sarah made it through the operation.

Her parents are eternally grateful to the NHS for saving her life.

Sarah, from Uddingston, Lanarkshire, said: “I should not really be here. We are so fortunate to have such talented heart specialists in Scotland and I owe them my life.

“After my tumour was discovered, a heart transplant or treatment in the States seemed like the only options.

“My parents started to look into selling our house to finance an operation in America. So when Mr MacArthur said he’d attempt it in Clydebank, we were delighted.”

She added: “The surgery took five-and-a-half hours and they had a mechanical heart on standby. At one point, they had to lift my heart out of my chest. I was well aware of how dangerous the operation was but I was not afraid of dying because, if I didn’t survive, I would know nothing about it.

“But I was terrified how my death would affect my family and was thankful that, if I did die, they would not have the ordeal of bringing my body back from the States.

“The health service in this country often gets taken for granted but I am living proof of just how lucky we are.”

Sarah, who specialises in human rights law, went to her GP last April after feeling dizzy and breathless.

She suspected she had a virus and wanted to get it cleared up before a trip to Italy the following week.

Sarah, whose mum Jean, 67, is a retired nurse, said: “I had started feeling dizzy and breathless and I was getting palpitations, especially at night.

“Dad put it down to stress and advised me to cut out caffeine and go to bed earlier.

“When I started getting chest pains and breathlessness after walking up Hope Street, my dad said I should go to the GP and get it checked out before our holiday.”

She added: “I had always been fit and healthy and wasn’t expecting it to be anything sinister. Instead, I was told to go to A&E for an ECG.”

Rudy, 64, who is head of A&E at Glasgow Royal Infirmary, was shocked when Sarah walked through the doors of his department and devastated when he was shown the results of her ECG.

He said: “The A&E nurse handed me the results of the ECG and I knew immediately that there was something very wrong with Sarah’s heart.

“I hadn’t been overly worried about her symptoms so the bottom fell out of my world when I realised how ill she really was.

“I deal with life-and-death situations every day in my job but nothing can prepare you for the moment you realise your daughter is living on borrowed time.

“An echocardiogram revealed a growth the size of an orange between the chambers of Sarah’s heart, which had probably been growing there since she was born. The tumour had to be removed as there was a risk of sudden cardiac death.”

A biopsy revealed Sarah had a myocardial fibroma – a benign tumour which was obstructing the blood flow out of the lower part of her heart.

The condition, which is usually diagnosed in small children, is so rare that there are fewer than 150 other cases recorded worldwide.

Sarah with her A&E expert dad Rudy and mum Jean

Sarah’s mum Jean admits the whole family cried for three days at the thought of what lay ahead.

She said: “We knew all the options available to us were dangerous. Although heart transplants have come a long way, the risks are still huge.

“We looked into having the fibroma removed abroad at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota and started thinking about selling our home to finance the treatment.

“It was a really stressful time as Sarah’s symptoms continued to worsen and we worried that, when she went to bed at night, we would never see her again. She is our baby and we were terrified of losing her.”

Rudy, who is also chairman of St Andrew’s First Aid, added: “In June, we got the news that surgeon Kenneth MacArthur could do the surgery in the Jubilee if Sarah was willing.

“They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing but, with our medical backgrounds, too much knowledge for Jean and me was worse.

After weighing up the options, Sarah decided to go ahead.”

Knowing the risks, Sarah – who has a 33-year-old brother, Peter – was determined to live life to the full before the op.

On June 26, she saw Robbie Williams at Hampden and on June 28, she graduated from Strathclyde University with a Masters in Human Rights Law.

She said: “I wanted to make sure I had said all my goodbyes and had all my affairs in order.

“I also wanted to create some wonderful memories for my mum and dad.

“I had fun with my friends at Robbie Williams and my graduation was an amazing but very emotional day. I was delighted to graduate but was worried about my mum being sent the official photos if I died.

“I watched my niece Amy turn 13 and, the night before I was due to go into Clydebank, I had a barbecue with all my family. It was surreal.”

Sarah had her operation on July 22. After five days in intensive care and 11 in the high dependency unit, the lawyer was allowed home.

Now, seven months on, Sarah – who turned 30 on February 18 – is well on the road to recovery and is looking forward to making a phased return to work.

She said: “Most folk dread reaching 30 but I was delighted. It was a real landmark, a birthday I thought I’d never see.

“I am still in a lot of pain from where they opened up my chest but I’m improving every day and my medication has been reduced.

“I plan to enjoy life and eventually go back to work. I’m going to New York later this year and I am planning more adventures. I’ve been given a second chance at life and I’m going to use it.”

She added: “I hope my story will inspire other young people who are faced with a life-threatening illness and also bring them comfort.”

Sarah will be forever grateful to the Golden Jubilee. She said: “The care I received was outstanding and the staff were fantastic from the moment I stepped through the door.

“My parents were so grateful, they decided to make a personal donation to the hospital and requested money in lieu of gifts for their ruby wedding anniversary, managing to raise £2000.”

She added: “I wouldn’t be here today without the love and support of so many people, including my wonderful mum and dad, my brother Peter and sister-in-law Cathy, my niece Amy and especially my best friend Louise Beresford.

“My work have been brilliant, as has my GP. My dog Lily has also made a real difference. She has been a constant companion and has helped me to get back on my feet.”

Mum Jean said: “Sarah is an amazing daughter and friend. Our lives stopped with her diagnosis but we have started to live again. We just have to stop ourselves wrapping her up in cotton wool.”

Lucky to be alive: Sarah in hospital after life-saving operation.

Surgery was first of its kind in Scotland

Sarah’s ground-breaking surgery – the first of its kind in Scotland – was performed by consultant cardiothoracic surgeon Kenneth MacArthur.

He was initially unsure if it would be safe to remove the tumour and contacted experts in the UK and abroad to assess the viability of the operation.

Kenneth said: “Sarah was already suffering symptoms as a result of this extremely rarecondition, to the extent that she was almost experiencing heart failure due to obstruction to the left ventricle – one of the four chambers of the human heart.

“In 20 years performing cardiac surgery, I have never seen a tumour as large as Sarah’s in a case like this.

“Due to its size and position, surgery was a very risky option as there was a very real chance of causing damage to the surrounding heart, which would have made it impossible to bring her off the artificial heart and lung machine. In years gone by, this operation would not even have been attempted.

“However, due to the specialised expertise available to us at the Golden Jubilee and the advances which have been made in ventricular assist devices – mechanical hearts – and transplant procedures, it was decided that we were willing to attempt to remove the tumour.”